Niger

News about Niger, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Feb. 11, 2015

Niger votes to send troops across Nigerian border to fight Boko Haram militant group; militants have made four attacks in Niger in less than week. MORE

Jan. 31, 2015

African Union's peace and security council calls on Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger to prevent expansion of Boko Haram; stops short of authorizing cross-border operations. MORE

Oct. 11, 2014

French forces destroy a convoy in Niger linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb; group was transporting weapons from Libya to Mali. MORE

May. 27, 2014

United States Special Operations troops are forming elite counterterrorism units in Libya, Niger, Mauritania and Mali in widening war against Al Qaeda’s affiliates in Africa; acknowledge difficulties of working with weak allies, which pose risks to secretive program. MORE

May. 10, 2014

Bodies of at least 13 migrants from Niger who were abandoned by smugglers in the Sahara have been found in southern Algeria. MORE

Mar. 7, 2014

Niger extradites Saadi el-Qaddafi, third son of Col Muammar el-Qaddafi, back to Libya, where he is accused of participating in corruption and abuses of his father’s more than 40-year rule. MORE

Mar. 5, 2014

Pentagon is helping Niger and other African countries to combat rising Islamist militancy by providing advice and training African troops to deal with terrorists on their own; strategy represents marked shift from direct involvement in conflicts, as American defense budget shrinks and citizens lose appetite for intervening in foreign wars. MORE

Nov. 29, 2013

Alhassane Ould Mohamed, member of extremist group wanted in fatal carjacking of American official William Bultemeier in Niger in 2000, has been arrested in northern Mali. MORE

Nov. 1, 2013

Decomposing bodies of 87 migrants from Niger are discovered in the Sahara a few miles from a well, apparently stranded after a desperate search for water; two trucks carrying the migrants, men, women and children, broke down in the desert while trying to reach neighboring Algeria. MORE

Oct. 31, 2013

Four Frenchmen return to Paris more than three years after being kidnapped by Islamist fighters in Niger; men, workers at a uranium mine, were seized in 2010 by members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. MORE

Oct. 30, 2013

French Pres Francois Hollande says the four French hostages who were kidnapped in 2010 in Niger by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have been released. MORE

Jul. 14, 2013

Nicholas D Kristof Op-Ed column celebrates opening of the Danja Fistula Center in Niger, creation of which was made possible in part by contributions of more than $500,000 to the Worldwide Fistula Fund from New York Times readers; holds that opening of center underscores that there are times when modest contributions can absolutely transform lives. MORE

Jul. 11, 2013

Drone base established in February 2013 in Niger to track terrorist militants in Mali is the latest indication of the priority Africa has become for the United States; strategy has limitations, however, where shortage of resources is chronic and regional partners are weak; introduction of drones runs risk of creating backlash. MORE

Jun. 27, 2013

Plans by United States and other countries to thwart spread of terrorism in Africa are focusing on Algeria and its neighbors, including Niger and Mali, considered increasingly vulnerable to jihadist groups. MORE

May. 25, 2013

Mokhtar Belmokhtar, mastermind of seizure of Algerian gas plant that left dozens of foreign hostages dead, claims responsibility for another terrorist attack--suicide bombings in Niger that killed about 30 people, including 24 soldiers and at least six jihadists; if true, claim would put one of region's most hardened militants, whom Chad’s military said it had killed, back at the center of jihad. MORE

May. 24, 2013

Two groups of suicide bombers ram vehicles full of explosives into military base and French-owned uranium mine in Niger, killing at least 26 people; bombings are seen as first terrorist attacks in the country, which has taken a leading role against jihadism in West Africa. MORE

Apr. 16, 2013

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran begins three-nation Africa trip that includes a visit to Niger, leading producer of uranium. MORE

Feb. 23, 2013

Pres Obama announces that about 100 American troops have been sent to Niger in West Africa to help set up new base from which unarmed Predator drones will conduct surveillance in region. MORE

Jan. 25, 2013

France is sending special forces and equipment to help protect uranium production sites controlled by French nuclear company Areva in Niger; France gets about 75 percent of its electricity from nuclear reactors and threats against France have risen since it began fighting Islamist rebels in Mali. MORE

Oct. 13, 2012

Floods in Niger have killed 91 people and caused significant damage to rice paddies, schools, health centers, and roads, and destroyed large quantities of food and cattle. MORE

Jun. 8, 2012

Niger’s president Mahamadou Issoufou says he has evidence that Boko Haram, an Islamist group that has become a security threat in Nigeria’s north and fostered links with Al Qaeda’s North African wing, was running training camps in Mali. MORE

May. 22, 2012

Zinder Journal; drought is a major impediment to education in Niger, where the job of securing water frequently is given to children as young as 10; in rural districts around Zinder, Niger's second-largest city, search for water keeps one third to one-half of students out of school; children must often trek for miles to draw water from wells, both in the morning and at night, which prevents them from attending school on time, if at all. MORE

May. 13, 2012

Nicholas D Kristof Op-Ed column, on the occasion of Mother's Day, thanks The New York Times readers for their financial donations for a fistula hospital in Danja, Niger; observes that the hospital is now trying to raise more money so that it can increase the volume of fistula operations it performs each year. MORE

Feb. 12, 2012

Libya presses Niger to extradite Col Muammar el-Qaddafi’s son Saadi, saying his call for Libyans to prepare for a 'coming uprising' threatens bilateral ties; Niger pledges to tighten its surveillance of Saadi el-Qaddafi, who fled there in Sept 2011 as Libyan rebels gained the upper hand. MORE

Nov. 12, 2011

Niger's Pres Mahamadou Issoufou reports that his army has clashed more than once with arms traffickers from Libya, underlining the destabilization and security threat posed by the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. MORE

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General Information on Niger

Official Name: The Republic of Niger
Capital: Niamey (Current local time)
Government Type: Republic
Population: 12.895 million
Area: 490,000 square miles; about three times the size of California
Languages: French (official), Hausa, Djerma
Literacy: Total Population: [29%] Male: [43%]; Female: [15%]
GDP Per Capita: $280
Year of Independence: 1960

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After the authorities banned a meeting called by local Muslim leaders to protest cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, protesters in Niger’s capital set fire to police vehicles and at least two Catholic churches.